Conflict of Interest Model Ordinances For Frederick County

Abstract

In June, 1976, the Board of County Commissioners of Frederick County appointed a Conflict of Interest Commission. The specific charge of the Commission was "to study and make recommendations back to the Board of County commissioners in any manner it sees fit. The Commission is to schedule its own meetings, formulate its own organization and own procedures for carrying out its mission." The establishment of the Commission resulted from a year long effort of Frederick County resident Sanford G. Blum, a political activist and twice an unsuccessful candidate for County Commissioner. The establishment of this Commission passed the Board of County Commissioners by a narrow vote. Opposition to the Commission was formidable. For example, immediately before the formulation of the Commission, an ordinance was proposed by Commissioner Sterling Bollinger which would have given the Board President, Lawrence A. Dorsey, power to rule on what was a conflict of interest. This ordinance was defeated by a 3-2 vote. The failure of the Frederick County Conflict of Interest Commission was apparent from the start. Many of the appointed members vigorously opposed any effort by the Commission in addressing the conflict of interest issue. Some members refused to attend regularly scheduled meetings, attempting to disqualify the committee's work by failure to obtain a quorum. This technique by the opponents to conflict of interest measures finally proved successful. In November, 1976, a work group consisting of MS. Betty Floyd (League of Women Voters), Donald Foster (attorney with the National District Attorneys' Association), W. Milnor Roberts (Frederick City Attorney) and Charles Higginbotham (Chairman of the Commission) began work on ordinances for Frederick County. At that time Article 33, Section 29-10, of the 1973 Acts of the General Assembly stated that counties may enact financial disclosure ordinance and implied that conflict of interest ordinances could be enacted also. Several drafts of the proposed ordinances—Conflict of Interest, Financial Disclosure, Conflict of Interest Commission—were prepared and reviewed by the entire Commission. The author of this thesis was the principal writer of these ordinances. On April 25, 1977, the entire Commission was scheduled to vote on the ordinance. Of the 11 member Commission, 4 members voted in favor of adopting the ordinances, one voted against the ordinances, and six members abstained. Since April, 1977, the Conflict of Interest Commission has been inactive, however, the need for such ordinances has been recognized. The 1980 Acts of the Maryland General Assembly repealed Article 19A, Conflict of Interest, and transferred Article 33, Financial Disclosure, with amendments, to a new law entitled Maryland Public Ethics Laws, Article 40A. Section 6-101 of Article 40A requires that by December 31, 1980, every county of the State shall enact conflict of interest provisions. The provisions adopted by the local government shall be similar to provisions contained in Article 40A, but can be modified to make the provisions relevant to that jurisdiction. Also, Article 40A, Section 6-201, allows for each county to establish a financial disclosure ordinance. This local ordinance was first required to be adopted by December 31, 1980; however, the deadline has been extended to July 1, 1981. The purpose of this thesis is to develop model ordinances addressing Conflicts of Interest, Financial Disclosure, and establishing a Conflict of Interest Commission for Frederick County, Maryland.